


A Return to Haven

by DaddyLuke



Series: A Return to Haven: Series [1]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:14:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaddyLuke/pseuds/DaddyLuke
Summary: In an interview a couple years back, Emily Rose and Lucas Bryant were asked if they would be willing to return to the series if it got picked up again. They both said yes, and Emily especially discussed the possibilities given that reboots and returns have become commonplace. Eric Balfour has also signaled his interest.The explanatory episode outlines,  below, could very well lead (with a few time/circumstance modifications) into the sort of AU created by Jadzibelle in The Accidental Threesome (I’d be extremely annoyed if it were otherwise, should the series ever return).
Relationships: Duke Crocker/Audrey Parker/Nathan Wuornos
Series: A Return to Haven: Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796647
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	A Return to Haven

**Author's Note:**

> This outline includes the possibilities of a return series that includes the depth and range most fans have sought, especially a polyamorous triad between Audrey, Nathan, and Duke. The outline also discusses the Teagues, Dwight, James as a kid, Charlotte, Jennifer, and Croatoan.
> 
> As have other writers, I have shamelessly taken the idea of Nathan (and eventually Duke) taking Audrey's surname from Elizajane's “Let Your Indulgence Set Me Free” series.

The return to Haven

In an interview a couple years back, Emily Rose and Lucas Bryant were asked if they would be willing to return to the series if it picked up again. They both said yes, and Emily especially discussed the possibilities given that reboots and returns have become commonplace. Eric Balfour has also signaled his interest. 

The explanatory episode outlines, below, could very well lead (with a few time/circumstance modifications) into the sort of AU created by Jadzibelle in The Accidental Threesome (I’d be extremely annoyed if it were otherwise, should the series ever return). 

In my conception of the entire “received,” Haven universe, the various AUs have coalesced into a storyline that has roughly unfolded as follows.

_____________

Nathan and Duke grew up together in Haven, Maine, and Duke was present both times Nathan's “trouble” (inability to feel physical touch) activated. When both were children in school together, in third grade, Duke once bullied Nathan. Duke convinced Nathan that a girl named Carla Rose liked him, and all of Duke's friend's ‘congratulated’ Nathan. The boys used the ‘pat on the back’ motion to stick push pins in Nathan's back. Because Nathan couldn't feel it, he went to her with blood all over his back. Carla was horrified and stopped talking with Nathan thereafter. 

Sometime later, Nathan broke his arm while sledding and couldn't feel it. Duke was the one who brought Nathan to the hospital—actually carried him. But then went back to sledding, because it was a great sledding day. Nathan found this mystifying. But, from then onward, Duke protected Nathan in school from anybody who wanted to start problems with him. Nathan and Duke sometimes talked, and Nathan asked Duke why he did that. Duke told Nathan it was because they were friends. Nathan was surprised but, oddly, happy. 

When Duke’s father died and his estranged mother came to Haven, primarily to run a flop house and collect aid checks, Duke had to steal to survive. He also sometimes had to escape his mother. Nathan would pressure his Dad (that is, his foster-father, the chief) into allowing Duke to stay over on those nights, and they would bunk together. Eventually, they began to talk more about their friendship and realized they both were attracted to both girls and guys. They both made their way through dating lots of local girls. 

Finally, Duke kissed Nathan, and they became even more physical. For a few months, they continued to bond, but Duke also continued to steal and to frequently get drunk, which upset Nathan. Duke decided he wanted to get a boat and go sailing the world. He got a boat (not the one —the Cape Rouge — that he’d eventually win, at 21, in a poker game that his late father had set-up for him to win). He asked Nathan to come with him. They were 18. 

_____________

Now, this moment calls for a note about series dynamics and participants and actors. Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour, as well as Emily Rose, are each married with children. But Balfour and Bryant have had plenty of opportunities to kiss each other at various conventions and have generally obliged their fans in doing so for the sake of entertainment. It is not a far cry for them to play romantic scenes or even carefully crafted scenes that might look like sex. And certainly, both Bryant and Balfour had such scenes with Rose in the series while she was quite married (some have suggested that Rose’s Christianity would preclude this, but I don’t guess Rose is of the fundamentalist-hypocritical “Republican Jesus™️“ brand of Christianity). 

The larger issue is whether the show’s producers and writers could wrap their heads around and be supportive of (rather than cheap with) a polyamorous bisexual triad. Clearly, they failed miserably at that during the original series. The question is also whether Bryant and Balfour would be willing to play a bisexual romance in a series. But, frankly, I can’t imagine either of them being so foolish as wanting to avoid such an opportunity for depth and range. That’s especially so in the wake of the success of Sense8 and other shows that have celebrated such possibilities. 

Back to the story, then. 

_____________

After Duke asked Nathan to run away with him, Nathan told Duke he could not leave Haven “and just become a pirate.” Duke assumed that meant Nathan didn’t love him enough to run away with him. Nathan assumed Duke’s decision to go away meant that Duke didn’t love him enough to stay. That began the worst of the tension and distance between them. For a few years, Duke made rare returns to Haven, but never sought out Nathan.

Years later, Duke returned to Haven after a long absence (including lots of criminal activity and a failed marriage) and invited Nathan out on a fishing trip under the premise of friendship. Nathan soon discovered that Duke was using him and his police officer status to smuggle something in, using Nathan as his alibi and cover when the coast guard showed up. Nathan was furious and fought with Duke for an hour, which reactivated Nathan’s “trouble.”

After that, when Nathan was having problems starting out as local police officer, he considered quitting. He told Duke so, over a heated game of pool. Duke then quietly helped Nathan collar a criminal named Nick McGinnis, which helped Nathan with his career. Duke’s selfless help (unknown to Nathan at the time) convinced Nathan to persist in doing police work for the Haven Police. Still, Nathan couldn’t bring himself to trust Duke, and continued to feel stung that Duke had left him and had hurt him.

When Audrey Parker came to Haven (when the series begins) and started to help people with the “troubles,” Nathan and Duke both grew to become more and more enamored of her. This also exacerbated tensions and jealousies and fights between them. Eventually, both of them fell in love with Audrey, and she fell in love with both of them. 

At first, Audrey and Nathan kept Duke at a sort of emotional distance. Duke was deeply hurt, not only because of his longing for Audrey, but also because of his longing for Nathan. It seemed they were both out of his reach now, and that he’d lost what he needed yet again. 

At a pivotal moment, Audrey orchestrated using Duke and his Trouble, perhaps as Duke had subconsciously orchestrated having Nathan on board his boat in case the Coast Guard stopped them. It was a seeming betrayal and yet heavily layered with confusing ethics, moral quandaries, and mixed intentions. Rather than driving the three apart, this moment gave Duke begrudging perspective about both Nathan and Audrey. 

Then, while seeking information on a trip in Colorado, Duke and Audrey kissed. However, both of them cut it off, because neither of them wanted to hurt Nathan. From then on, however, Audrey referred to both Nathan and Duke as “my boys.”

When it is revealed that Audrey must step into the Barn and leave them, Nathan tried to destroy the Barn. But it became clear that it made the “troubles” worse. Nathan realized that Duke was in love with Audrey too. Because he could not go into the Barn, Nathan begged Duke to go after her, because Duke loved her, too. To please Nathan, and to try to save Audrey, Duke jumped into the Barn. 

When Duke was ejected from the Barn six months later, he went back to Haven and discovered that Nathan had been removed as Chief of Police and had been drinking heavily and fighting and betting to raise money. Various people who are contemptuous of both Nathan and Duke sneered at Duke and called Nathan, “your boyfriend.” Duke never argued with them about it. 

Duke found Nathan in a parking lot, having a fight. He called Nathan’s name and then they embraced intensely. They then set about trying to get Audrey back. 

The rest unfolds as the story goes in the show canon. As the show made clear, Duke claimed he was not in love with Audrey, but that was a lie. He admitted to Nathan that he and Audrey didn’t follow through in Colorado, for Nathan’s sake. However, he also wound up having sex with Mara, as a surrogate for Audrey, because he really wanted Audrey so much. That mistake allowEd Mara to turn Duke into a Troubles Bomb. 

The series went on to wrap-up (problematically) as we know it in the show canon. 

_____________

All that understood (and probably explicated in a new series), a rebirth of Haven would have us rejoin with these two episodes. 

_____________

In episode one:

Because of what Mara had done to Duke, in making him a Trouble Bomb, Duke did not actually die when Nathan seemed to kill him. He was seized into the void (by Charlotte’s ghost) and then deposited into the Barn. 

Vince and Croatoan, now in separate areas of the Barn (depending on circumstances with the actors, we may only see Vince’s back or Croatoan’s back in front of a phalanx of computers and crystals) work together to use the abilities of the Barn to reconstitute Duke’s body. 

They meet with Duke in the Barn and ask Duke if he wants to return to Haven. They warn him that Audrey has returned in a new form as Paige, with James as her child son again because, given the way the Barn works, it was the only way she could think of to return. They say that if he tells her directly that she’s Audrey, the psychological shock might suppress Audrey forever. Duke promises not to outright tell her who she is. 

Meanwhile, the episode goes on to lay some of the groundwork (see the summary after the second episode below) of what has happened in Haven

Then, we are back in the Barn, and Vince and Croatoan tell Duke that about seven years must have passed in Haven since he left. “We’ll adjust your body,” they say. They send Duke back to Haven. It is seven years after he seems to have died. He wakes up behind the dumpster of the local grade school. As he is crawling out, James finds him and says, “What are you doing behind the dumpster, Uncle Duke?”

_____________

In episode two:

Duke tells the child he threw a piece of jewelry into the dumpster and then decided he wanted it after all (it is the ring/conduit of Audrey’s family). Duke asks the child his name and if he knows him. The child seems confused and says, “My name is James. I don’t remember you. But my mom and Dad have pictures of you everywhere, and they always talk about how much they love you and wish you hadn’t gone away. Are you back now, Uncle Duke?” 

Duke’s jaw drops, and he asks the child who his mom and dad are. Young James says, “Nathan and Audrey Parker.” Duke ponders. “Parker, eh?,” Duke muses, “I always wanted to be a Parker.” “Aren’t you?,” James asks. “That’s what mom and dad said.” Duke is deeply moved. 

“Yes, James. I’m back,” Duke says. 

The bell rings and James goes back inside the school. Duke tells himself he needs a cup of coffee, or maybe a whiskey, or maybe a coffee with whiskey. He starts to walk to the cafe, and runs into Audrey in the street. 

They see each other, and stop for a moment. They nod, and then run toward each other and embrace intensely. “I just met James at his school,” Duke says, “And you remember? You know who you are?” 

“I’m Audrey, Duke,” she says. “Even though I thought the only way to come back was to take on a new life, it wasn’t. I was just too strong for the memories to stay hidden. But that came with a price.”

“Please don’t tell me the Troubles are back,” Duke says. 

“No,” Audrey says, but something did happen. And it’s how I knew you weren’t dead.”

“What do you mean?” Duke asks. 

“Charlotte. My mother. She started talking with me from the spirit world,” Audrey says. “I’m like that kid in the movie. I see dead people.”

Duke laughs, but he says, “That sounds like trouble all it’s own.” 

“Oh.....It can be,” Audrey says, “And it has been. And I’ve heard from Jennifer.” 

“Jennifer?,” Duke says, intrigued. 

“Yes,” Audrey says. “She told me that all the sentient species are there, and the ones who think they were gods above the others — like from our home world — are getting quite a comeuppance. She also said that you were the bravest and most heroic man she ever met, and that she’ll love you for that forever.”

“Oh, sure,” Duke says. “That’s me. Captain Marvel the Sea Crook.”

Audrey smiles and confesses: “We argue about who loved you more.” 

“Loved?,” Duke asks.

“Love,” Audrey says, very pointedly. “I am so sorry I ever doubted you, Duke. I don’t know how I’ll ever make that up to you, but I want to spend my life trying. I know we pushed each other to do things beyond the pale...”.

“Stop it,” Duke says. “You only ever demanded I use every tool in the arsenal to save the people and the priorities I love. And I demanded the same of you.” 

“You may be a rogue, but you’re also a knight,” Audrey says, touching Duke’s face. “I was sure you’d come back to me if you were in the spirit world, Duke. I knew you’d come back to at least check in with us. And you didn’t. So I knew you had to be somewhere else. My mother and Jennifer wouldn’t confirm anything. They said it was up to you to let me know.”

Duke looks her deep in the eyes and says, “I know it’s been seven years here. I was in the Barn, or the Armory, or whatever. I got to project myself to Dwight once, but that was Vince’s trick.”

“For me,” he continues, “it didn’t seem like seven years. But when they reconstituted my body, they made it older.” Duke smiles and shakes his head, “Jackasses.” 

“They?” Audrey asks. 

“Croatoan, too,” Duke says. “He helped.” 

Audrey shakes her head. She says, “Well, James is aging at a human pace so, if it’s any consolation, I think I’m aging at that pace, too.” 

“Audrey, I know you and Nathan are married, the Parkers, raising your son,“ Duke says. 

“Of course we are, Duke. But there has been a hole in both of our lives without you. You have got to know that.”

“I never said it, Audrey. But I love you,” Duke admits. “I always have.” 

“I know,” she says. 

“But a part of him can’t heal, Duke. He loves you. He needs you,” she says. 

“Nathan???,” Duke asks, incredulously. 

“He needs you,” Audrey repeats. 

“You’re always telling me that,” Duke says, with some degree of disbelief

“You two,” Audrey says, exasperated. “My boys.”

_____________

At Nathan and Audrey’s home, Nathan walks in from his work day and James runs up to excitedly tell him that Uncle Duke is “back home.” Nathan seems confused, and then Audrey and Duke walk in from the other room. Nathan’s legs buckle, and he staggers and nearly falls over, grabbing onto a chair. 

He and Duke stare at each other for a beat and then lunge at each other to embrace. Duke, through tears, says, “Thank you, Nate.” 

Nathan begins to sob into Duke’s shoulder. When he can look back at Duke, he says, “No matter how many times you leave me, you always come back.” 

“Well,” Duke says, grinning and finding his snark again, “You were my first love, after all. But I probably shouldn’t say that in front of Audrey.” 

Audrey is smiling. 

“Oh, please, you two,” Audrey says, rolling her eyes. “As if I didn’t know.”

“Why are they crying?,” James asks Audrey. “Aren’t they happy?” 

“James,” Audrey says, looking at her son. “You’re gonna learn that your Dad and your uncle have complicated emotions.” 

“Whatever,” James says. “I’m gonna go play [video game] with [peer playmate character for James].”

_____________

For the record, the Grey Gull has stayed in the family, as it were. When she saw it as Paige, Audrey had fallen in love with it (again). Nathan explained to her, while she was still under the Paige illusion, that it had belonged to his high school flame and lifetime frenemy, Duke. The catastrophes that had occurred in Haven and the death of Duke had resulted in the place having to be rebuilt and reopened and run by its staff, but Nathan had assumed control of all the licensing and other agreements under eminent domain (and some “found” real estate money from the Teagues). Paige wanted to run the place and make it her own, and Nathan thought that was a perfect idea. 

Once Audrey became fully aware of herself again, she and Nathan acquired another boat and commissioned it as a memorial to all the heroes of Haven. They christened it, “The Hero Pirate,” or “The HP.”

While Nathan and Audrey Parker and their son James have their modest 3/2 house, they have also kept up the apartment above the Grey Gull, living quarters on the boat, and the Wournos cabin. Nathan and Audrey worked with Dwight to use the largest portions of the Teague’s real estate fortune and holdings to make land trusts out of several of the destroyed and vacant lots that were left around town, so that the town could build new affordable housing. That, and the experiences during the Trouble Bomb and in the seven years afterward have radically altered how things are done in Haven, including policing. It had also altered people’s perception of Nathan and Audrey so that Nathan and Audrey are very much appreciated around town, except by outside real estate developers, people trying to start polluting fish farms, and profiteers still seeking to profit from the pains the town experienced. Such bad actors are behind an increasing number of nefarious crimes in Haven. 

Jean, Duke’s “daughter,” may make an appearance down the line. In any case, young James has to adjust to having Uncle Duke around all the time, and to seeing more clearly that Uncle Duke is part of a “three” with mom and dad—that mom and dad were never really just a “two.” This leads him to want to know why Uncle Duke went away for so long, which will beg the questions.

Evidence Ryan (Duke’s dead wife, who was a manipulator to the end) will occasionally appear to Audrey, as will Audrey’s mother, Charlotte, who is still protectively looking over Dwight and his daughter

Between the criminal activities and intrigue of the profiteers, the very new ways of running small town community safety, and the intense intrusions of the spirit world, Haven has been anything but dull for the past seven years.


End file.
